Monday, 27 February 2017

Voice actress and singer Megumi Hayashibaraannounced on the Radio Kansai radio show on Saturday that she will have a live concert on June 11 at the Nakano Sun Plaza Hall in Tokyo. She will also host and record the 1300th episode of her "Hayashibara Megumi no Tokyo Boogie Night" radio show on the afternoon of the same day.
While Hayashibara has appeared live to perform songs as part of events before, this is her first solo live concert since her debut as a singer 26 years ago.
Hayashibara has voiced numerous roles and has sung theme songs for many of the anime she has starred in, one of the first voice actors to do so. She has starred in and performed theme songs for such anime as 3x3 Eyes, Ranma ½, Slayers, Saber Marionette R, Sorcerer Hunters, Love Hina, and Shaman King.
She currently stars in the Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū anime, and also performed the theme songs for both of the anime's seasons. Her latest single, "Imawa no Shinigami" (cover seen right), is the opening theme song for the second season of the anime, and it shipped on February 22 as her 42nd single. She will release a tribute album for the late Ritsuko Okazaki on May 3.

On Monday February 27, Manga Entertainment will release Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! -Heart Throb- as both a DVD and a Deluxe Edition Blu-ray. (The Deluxe Edition will contain four art cards and a poster.)
This is the sequel to the original Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! In the second series, the relationship between Yuuta and Rikka starts to develop slowly in their own unique way as they begin to live together with Kuzuha under one roof. However, "chuunibyou"-plagued Satone, Yuuta's old acquaintance, showed up in the most unexpected place and time; challenging their budding, yet fragile relationship. Meanwhile, the rest of the Oriental Magick Napping Society in Summer club members continue to expand their own unique selves and relationships with one another.

MVM will release Owarimonogatari, part of the 'Monogatari' franchise created by NisiOisin and animated by Studio Shaft, on Blu-ray and DVD. During the month of October of his third year in high school, Koyomi Araragi is introduced to a transfer student named Ougi Oshino by his underclassman Kanbaru Suruga. Ougi tells Koyomi that she has something she wishes to consult with him. When she draws the map of Naoestu High School, she finds something peculiar.

Funimation is also releasing Absolute Duo as a Blu-ray/DVD combi pack. Funimation previously described the story:

In a world of heroes who wield magical weapons known as Blaze, Thor Kokonoe's manifests instead as a shield. Things aren't all bad for Thor, though: he's enrolled in an elite school that pairs students up into Duos, and his own partner is the beautiful Julie Sigtuna, a silver-haired exchange student who wields a wicked pair of blades. Along with a bevy of Blazing beauties, Thor's high school adventures are just beginning!

A printing error has been discovered on units that have been shipped to retailers on the release of Fairy Tail Collection 12. As a result all stock that has presently not been sent to retailers has been quarantined and this will now be having its general retail release date shifted back to mid-March (exact date TBA), while we get this corrected.

The error relates not to the discs but to the reversible sleeve, which lacks the text which should have been included. 'We understand all copies that have been sent to retailers at time of writing (including those sent from our own web shop fulfilment house) have been impacted by this. So if you receive / purchase one your copy will likely be impacted. We are working to get remaining units of this impacted version out of circulation.'
Anyone who has bought this title with the printing error can get a corrected sleeve by sending an email to jeremy@alltheanime.com with the subject “Fairy Tail Part 12 sleeve replacement." The email should include a photo/scan of proof or purchase; and your full name and postal address.
Purchasers who ordered from the AllTheAnime.com web shop will be automatically added to the list of replacements.

In 2007 Fingleton was awarded the Guinness World Record as the tallest British-born man and the tallest man in the European Union, standing at 7 ft 6in or 2.33m.

Neil Fingleton was born in Durham in 1980. An outstanding basketball player, he spent 8 years in education in the United States, winning a sporting scholarship and studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

In 2004 he made his professional debut as a basketball player for the now defunct Boston Frenzy. He later played professionally in China, Italy, Greece, England and for the spanish teams Club Baloncesto Ilarcuris and Ciudad Real.

In 2007 injury forced him to abandon his sporting career and he took up acting. He appeared in the film 47 Ronin alongside Keanu Reeves, and played the giant Mag the Mighty in the TV series Game of Thrones. He appeared in the 2015 film Jupiter Ascending, the Fox Studios film X-Men: First Class and in the Marvel Entertainment film Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Friday, 24 February 2017

Plenty of male-oriented manga magazines include gravure centerfolds and covers, usually featuring a voluptuous model in a skimpy bikini. Hakusensha's Young Animal and Young Animal Arashi, Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits, Akita Shoten's Young Champion, and Futabasha's Manga Action all regularly feature gravure models. Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday skews to a younger audience than the listed seinen magazines, so while it sometimes features girls on its covers, they aren't as often in revealing clothing. Next week's issue will feature a gravure cover and pictures but the feature is not nearly as traditional.

The magazine's website announced that it will feature Detective Conan's infamous "Shadow Person" as the model for this year's 14th issue on March 1. The news offered two pictures of the upcoming feature, showing a model in a full-body black skin suit with the character's menacing eyes.

Detective Conan's "shadow people" appear in the anime as placeholders for the suspect before their identities are revealed. It's hard to say whether Shōnen Sunday is going for sexy, comedy, or both with this decision. What do you think?

Thursday, 23 February 2017

Crunchyrollannounced on Wednesday that it has added the Super GALS! anime to its catalog. The anime is available for all members in the United States and Canada. Right Stuf licensed the series, and it describes the story:

Sporting designer clothes, designer make-up, and designer nails, Ran Kotobuki is the very picture of a trendy Shibuya girl, but don't let her outer appearance fool you. This girl comes from a family of cops, and she's ready to lay you out flat if you even think about causing trouble in her town! ...At least, she will when she's not distracted by karaoke, shopping, and dodging her homework. Join Ran and her friends as they defend the streets of Shibuya and attempt to shop their way into the history books as the most famous Gals ever!

The 52-episode anime premiered in 2001. ADV Filmsreleased the series over six DVD volumes from 2003 to 2004, and then in two separate DVD collections in 2005 and 2007. Right Stufreleased the entire series on DVD in 2010, and again last July. Crunchyroll also announced that the Crunchyroll App is now available for Amazon FireTV users. The free app offers both Premium and ad-supported streaming. The app supports Premium account benefits such as Queue access and viewing history.

Japanese satellite channel Animaxannounced on Thursday that its parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan (SPEJ) established a new joint venture company called AK Holdings in partnership with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. on February 13. AK Holdings will officially launch on March 31. SPEJ has a majority stock in AK Holdings.
AK Holdings will serve as the management company for both Animax and Mitsui's Kids Station channel, and will produce and distribute anime. The new company plans to expand into broadcasting live anime-related events, and also open anime-themed restaurants. AK Holdings also plans to host events around the world, and generally expand into the global anime market. Masao Takiyama, who is the managing director of SPEJ Television Network, will head AK Holdings. Animax was founded as a subsidiary of SPEJ in May 1998, and as of September 30 it is being broadcast in more than 8.6 million homes in Japan. Other shareholders in Animax aside from SPEJ include Sunrise, Toei Animation, TMS Entertainment, and Nihon Ad Systems (NAS).

Kids Station was founded in April 1993, and as of September 30 it is being broadcast in more than 8 million homes in Japan. Mitsui owns a 67% stake in Kids Station, and Tokyo Broadcasting Systems, Jupiter Telecoms, and the agency HoriPro own the other 33% between them.

The entertainment website The Hollywood Reporter stated that Animax and Kids Station are the "two most-watched dedicated anime channels in Japan." Animax has a presence in 28 countries. The Animax Asia channel launched in January 2004, and it broadcasts anime to "58 million homes across 17 markets in Asia," including in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Animax Asia also airs simultaneous broadcasts with Japan for some anime. The channel also hosts the Animax Carnival events in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Animax UKlaunched as a streaming video on demand service in the United Kingdom in fall 2013, and it streams anime online for computers, mobile devices, tablet devices, and through apps on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Sources: Variety (Mark Schilling), The Hollywood Reporter (Gavin J. Blair)

The official website for the live-action film of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga revealed the film's December 1 opening date on Thursday. In addition, the site revealed a new still featuring Alphonse Elric in full CG. The Comic Natalie website reports that the CG Alphonse employs some techniques for the first time in the Japanese film industry.

Fumihiko Sori (live-action Ping Pong) is directing the film. On adapting the source material, Sori said, "I want to create a style that follows the original manga as much as possible. The cast is entirely Japanese, but the cultural background is Europe. However, it's a style that doesn't represent a specific race or country." Regarding the faithfulness of the adaptation, which has characters of non-Japanese ethnicity, the director said, "There will never be a scene in which a character says something that would identify him/her as Japanese."

The film stars Ryōsuke Yamada (Hey! Say! JUMP member and live-action Assassination Classroom's Nagisa) as Edward Elric, Tsubasa Honda (live-action Blue Spring Ride's Futaba) (pictured top right in image to the right) as Winry Rockbell, and Dean Fujioka (live-action Happy Marriage!?) (pictured bottom left in image to the right) as Roy Mustang. Other cast members include:

Italian newspaper La Nazione previously unveiled photos of the film's shooting in the Italian town of Volterra in June. Filming ended on August 26.
The film tells the story in one complete film. Ed is being aged up to 20 years old; he was originally 15 in the manga.
Sori told Oricon he has a deep affection for the story that tells the "truth of living," and said, "It is my dearest wish to turn this wonderful story into a film, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I am living for this reason." He added that he "wants to create a wonderful film that uses techniques that challenge Hollywood," and noted that nowadays Japanese filmmaking techniques have progressed greatly.

In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother's bodies...the legendary Philosopher's Stone.

The National Film Center at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo opened a "Japanese Animated Film Classics" website on Wednesday with a collection of classic animated works from Japan available streaming with English subtitles. The website will be open until the end of 2017.
To view the videos, visit this page, select a title, and then click the red button that reads "作品を見る" on the right side of the page. Once the player is open, toggle the English subtitles on by selecting the "With English subtitles" link under the video player before pressing play.
The website celebrates the 100th anniversary of the oldest known Japanese animated short films, and is streaming the oldest surviving Japanese animated short film, Junichi Kouchi's "The Dull Sword" (Namakura Gatana, pictured below left). The film about a samurai's foolish purchase of a dull-edged sword debuted in June 1917. The version on the website is "the longest, digitally restored version," which is four minutes long.

The film was discovered in an Osaka antique shop in 2008, along with Seitarou Kitayama's 1918 film "Urashima Tarō." Several anime films directed by Oten Shimokawa and Kitayama predated "Namakura Gatana," but these films are now lost. Shimokawa's "Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki" has long been considered the oldest commercially released anime film, having premiered in January 1917, but it may have premiered later that year, predated by two other films by Shimokawa. The films were all predated by a 50-frame shot of a sailor boy's salute that was discovered in 2005.

A new website has been launched for the UK and Ireland release of A Silent Voice, listing the cinemas that will show the film (tickets can be booked on the site).

According to Anime Limited, A Silent Voice will be shown on Wednesday March 15, 'with further select cinemas from Friday March 17, and the film will be screening in Showcase Cinemas, PictureHouse, ODEON, VUE, Cineworld and other independent locations in UK and Ireland.'
The film will be screened subtitled (no dub has been made yet). Regarding how long the film will be screened in cinemas, Anime Limited says, 'This will depend on the demand to see the film based on how well it performs on 15th March and the select cinemas on 17th March

petition to try to prevent the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff from closing, has received over 11,000 signatures.

The petition was launched after it was announced that the exhibition on Cardiff Bay is due to close this summer, when the five year lease expires.

The petition was the idea of Bex Ferriday, who lives in Cardiff. She told Wales Online

I set it up just expecting friends and family to sign it. I was pretty shocked and terrified by the popularity it garnered pretty quickly. I know the land was only leased for five years but surely anyone can see that... to knock this on the head, when we have got Doctor Who being filmed here and the studios here, seems like a really stupid thing to do.

The Doctor Experience opened in London in 2011, before moving to a purpose-built building in the Welsh capital. It is currently situated at Porth Teigr, Cardiff Bay, near the BBC studios where Doctor Who is made.

The site is owned by Cardiff City Council, who issues a five-year lease to BBC Worldwide to host the Experience.

A spokesman for Cardiff council said:

The land currently occupied by the Doctor Who Experience is owned by the Welsh Government and their development partner, Igloo Regeneration. It was leased to the city council for five years to enable the relocation of the Doctor Who Experience from Olympia to Cardiff on a temporary basis. It has always been the intention for the site to be developed as part of the ongoing Porth Teigr regeneration project. The agreement was always intended to be for five years only, reflecting the nature of the attraction. The decision to close the Experience at the end of the lease next summer has been mutually agreed by all parties involved, including the operators BBC Worldwide.

The petition will be presented to the Doctor Who Experience next Saturday.

Section23 Films announced in its June release slate on Tuesday that Sentai Filmworks will release both seasons of The Big O anime on Blu-ray Disc on June 20. The release will include both English and Japanese audio. Sentai Filmworks announced in 2013 that it had licensed The Big O and 11 other Sunrise titles, though it has not announced details on any of the releases besides The Big O. The company teased its The Big O release last week.
In addition, Sentai Filmworks confirmed that it isdubbingSchool-Live! and Chivalry of a Failed Knight into English. Both series will ship on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and limitededition Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo packs in June. Section23 Films also announced that it will rerelease Kino's Journey, previously released by ADV Films, on DVD on June 6. Other June releases include Sentai Filmworks' Norn9 DVD and Blu-ray Disc and SoftCel Pictures' The Patients of Dr. Maro adult DVD.

Competition

To be in with a chance to win a copy of both The Doctors: The Jon Pertwee Years and the previously announced Wartime Chronicles on DVD courtesy of Koch Media, simply answer the following question:

Name the first televised story where Benton chats to the third Doctor.

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-pertwee@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Jehoshaphat!". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 5th March 2017. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

The Third Doctor’s Earth-bound exile has been lifted. But before he can set out on new adventures, an alien invasion appears to threaten Earth! It’s the devious work of an old enemy, Salamander, a former dictator with a startling resemblance to the Second Doctor! Now, forming an uneasy alliance with the Master, the Doctor and UNIT set out to stop him – but are they too late to stop his plans as he takes them all back into the past.

The Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack head to Brazil on the next stop of their transtemporal mystery tour. The Iara have long been thought a Brazilian myth, but when these unearthly mercreatures prove to be aquatic aliens making an unscheduled stop on planet Earth, the TARDIS team must establish their intentions and broker peace across the water barrier...!

Tuesday, 21 February 2017

This year's 12th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine announced more details about the Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry anime film on Wednesday. The film will open in Japan on May 6, and the tagline on the new poster visual (pictured below) by manga creator Hiro Mashima reads, "That power … is it hope or destruction…?"

Mashima is drawing 193 pages of storyboard for the film (pictured below), and is also serving as executive producer. Mashima also drew the first key visual for the film, which features Natsu half transformed into a dragon.

The issue is also revealing the returning cast and character designs for the following characters:

Anime Limited has announced that it will release the series Charlotte on Blu-ray and DVD. It will be released in two parts, with the first part on May 29; both parts will be released as a Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD and also a standard DVD. The title can be pre-ordered at the above link. Aniplex described the story:

One day, a small percentage of adolescents start to experience an onset of special abilities. Yu Otosaka is one of these ability-wielders and he decides to use his power – the ability to take over any target's body for five seconds, to get accepted into a prestigious high school. Just when he is about to start his dream high school life as the popular honor student, a girl named Nao Tomori appears before him. Little does he know, this encounter reveals the cruel fate awaiting the special ability-wielders.

Selector Infected Wixoss (DVD, Ltd Collector's Edition Blu-ray, pictured). According to Anime Limited, "Our Blu-ray Limited Collector's Edition release will come in a rigid case, with a digipack to store the discs. Also included will be a 36-page art booklet featuring character information, a special column from a representative of Takara Tomy in Japan talking about developing the game, and two round table interviews, one with the Sound Effect staff and the other with Producers."

Metropolis of music, MIDICITY. A kitty girl wearing gothic lolita clothing named Cyan is scouted by Maple Arisugawa, the president of a music agency. From there, she meets Chuchu (a pun off of the sound that rabbits make) the honor student rabbit girl, a net geek dog girl named Retoree (from "Retriever"), and an alien sheep (?) girl named Moa. Together, they form the band named "Plasmagica," and aim for the top of the world. However, the path there is long and tough, and keeping in high spirits is important. By battling against other strange bands, Plasmagica slowly grows toward a top-grade band. In the end, they'll be a band that becomes the driving force of MIDICITY's music industry... Maybe?
Gonna be a music millionaire!

Funimation is also releasing the second half of the fantasy adventure Yona of the Dawn in a dual-format edition. It continues the story of Yona, a princess in exile, and the male warriors who protect her. The set includes episodes 13 to 24.

In Zeta Gundam, we see the future world of the Universal Century through a dark mirror. Having defeated the Zeon menace, the Earth Federation has itself become cruel and oppressive. A new generation of Gundam mobile suits is created not to fight for peace, but to punish the enemies of the state, and yesterday's villains must become today's heroes in order to balance the scales of justice. When a young civilian named Kamille Bidan is caught up in the rebellion, he little suspects the price he will pay in the fight for freedom.

Anime Limited are excited to announce partnering with Crunchyroll to simulcastStudio Khara's latest work Dragon Dentist. It will be amongst the first platforms to stream the work practically simultaneously with the Japanese broadcast - and only available on Crunchyroll. Dragon Dentist will be available to watch on Crunchyroll not only in the UK and Ireland, but also in Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Anime Limited is also excited to announce all rights for Dragon Dentist for the UK and Ireland and will release it on home video at a later date. Anime Limited also expect to release it theatrically later this year as well. More details to follow.
The first part of Dragon Dentist will be available to enjoy on Crunchyroll on Saturday 18, February at 21:45 GMT.

The anime's website describes the story:

The story takes place in Dragon Country. Nonoko is a newly appointed dentist and her mission is to protect the dragon, the guardian of the country, from tooth-cavity bacteria.One day, amid increasingly fierce battles with the neighboring country, Nonoko finds on the dragon's tooth an unconscious boy soldier from the enemy country.
His name is Bell, and he has been resurrected from inside the tooth by the dragon—a supernatural phenomenon that legend says occurs before a major disaster. As Nonoko and Bell go through a series of fierce battles, they eventually learn to accept their fate.
This fantasy adventure, created on an unprecedentedly epic scale, will keep viewers thrilled and enraptured.